VividSimon Simply Perfect

Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

mnpollio I am really not a fan of the modern sitcom - especially the "family" sitcom. A genre of which Everybody Loves Raymond is a prime example. The formula seems to go somewhere along the lines of find a comedic actor/actress, plop them down in suburbia, give them a few (usually three) interchangeable charmless children, and surround them with colorful family members/friends whose wackiness drives to distraction and viola! instant success.Everybody Loves Raymond centers on Droopy Dawg-faced Ray Romano as Ray Barone, an Italian-American sadsack semi-happily married to Patricia Heaton and stuck living on the same street as his overbearing family, including dad Peter Boyle, mom Doris Roberts and brother Brad Garrett.The show does have things going for it. Scratch that - the show has one thing going for it. The trio of supporting performances from Boyle, Roberts and Garrett. These three seem to be the only ones to be aware that they are in a "comedy", are expected to be funny, and rise above the limitations of the mediocre scripts to attempt something better. Garrett looks like he could conceivably be Romano's brother and gives the kind of performance that Romano should be contributing in the lead role. Boyle and Roberts are fun together and playing off the others as well. Roberts, particularly, is good in scenes as the mother-in-law from hell to Heaton's colorless daughter-in-law.The actors playing the children are instantly forgettable - in fact, the kids are used so sparingly and without thought that they could vanish from the show and no one would notice (or care).Unfortunately, the show is cursed with leads that are challenged. Romano literally seems to have one facial expression and a voice that could put caffeine into a coma. Listening to his chronic affectless delivery is downright disconcerting enough, but someone should have pulled him aside early on and explained that there is a huge difference between deadpan and deadly dull. Literally, Raymond is almost completely devoid of charisma or personality. The show is truly centered around a lackluster droning sadsack.Yet oddly, Romano still manages to come off better than his on screen wife. Given that this is a modern comedy, it seems to be the new thing that actresses playing wives/mothers in sitcoms are simply not expected to be or allowed to be funny. The days of Lucille Ball in I Love Lucy, Audrey Meadows in The Honeymooners and Mary Tyler Moore in The Dick Van Dyke Show, where comedic actresses were allowed to be as equally funny as their male counterparts are apparently dead. Heaton gets to play the now all-too-common role of the wife/mother, who is not allowed to be funny because she is too busy acting responsible and being the professional scold. Her entire role is to react to those around her. Ostensibly she is the straight man - if being a straight man required you to be criminally unfunny and annoying. Alas for Heaton, there are too many examples of great straight men/women who manage to be funny in their own right to function as an excuse for what she is doing here. Think Margaret Dumont in the Marx Brothers epics or, more recently, Jane Curtin in Third Rock from the Sun. Heaton's delivery sounds chronically forced and delivered in that mock-acting tone/volume that all too often characterizes bad TV comedies. She is almost diabolically unfunny and actually manages to drain the life from some of her better cast members when sharing a scene. She is such an irritant that we can easily fathom why Ray is such a sadsack and why his family seems to have ambivalent feelings about her below the surface. Failing as both a comedic actress and even a functional straight woman, Heaton manages to be a black hole at the center of this show, often throwing the dull leading man off, and hobbling it from attaining any heights of amusement. Purportedly Heaton did not get along with her co-stars and, if true, it certainly shows on screen. However, that can certainly not be the sole excuse for the kind of crummy acting exhibited by her here, since she has been equally lousy in her subsequent mercifully short-lived comedic pairing with Kelsey Grammar in a show whose title I cannot even remember and in the somehow still-currently-running The Middle.So I must say that while there are times that I may love Peter Boyle, Brad Garrett and especially Doris Roberts on this show, I most definitely do not love Ray Romano and I think the dreadful Heaton makes Larry the Cable Guy resemble great comic art.

hlg2401 I have never understood how a person that is so insulting, demeaning, controlling and overall un-likable makes for enjoyable television. Ray's mother Marie is so unbearable to watch, her constant dehumanizing of Debra makes you wonder why in the hell she would ever marry into the family. Ray is self-absorbed, egomaniacal and incredibly selfish. He never defends Debra and always bows down to his manipulative mother. Ray would rather play golf or watch T.V than interact with his wife or children. Ray's brother Robert is consistently treated like dirt by his Mother, Father and Brother. He occasionally stands up for himself but quickly buckles. Ray's wife Debra is the only character I like. She has no problem voicing her opinion but she often goes unheard. The worst thing about Debra is the fact that she backs down from confrontation very fast. Ray's father has his moments but overall is sexiest, loud, cowardly and insulting. He does how ever (rarely) defend Debra against Marie. This show does have a lot of very funny moments but the characters make it to rage inducing and leaves you wondering what Debra sees in Ray. Every comedy has and unbearable character, unfortunately this show has many.

Luke Koumoullos Where to start with this sitcom. I've watched all 210 episodes back to front ever since my father introduced me to it. For those that don't know, Everybody Loves Raymond is about a Sports Writer and his wife and three kids along with his protective mother and cynical father across the street, as well as his big brother who is a cop. The characters consist of five strong mains, Raymond, Debra, Robert, Marie and Frank, but the script is so well written that any character that is introduced provides laughs. The last series' innuendos and inside jokes get a little tiresome, but it is still nothing short of excellent. The one thing that upset me about the show is Peter Boyle(Who plays Frank)'s health decline is distinctly clear in the last two or three series, as he was suffering from cancer. Bless his heart. To conclude, Everybody Loves Raymond is a thrill ride, and the youngsters of today who downgrade this excellent show must learn to understand classic sitcoms. 54 award wins. Satisfied?

Stillare The Best Series Of All Times!!! These two moths I've been watching Everybody Loves Raymond were the best months of my entire life. I never thought that there would be a TV serial that I would be able to create a bond with. However these people became my family and what shocked me is that yesterday I saw the final episode and I realized that I know almost everything about them, even their house decorations! I know that I was able to create this kind of bond with them because that kind of family relations were nowhere in my life and I realized that I was desperate to get these feelings and moments in my life. Now as far as it has to do with the characters I'm IN LOVE with Debra, I love the way she loves her family, the way she cares about everybody, the way she supports her family and the fact that she's able to give anything in order to make everyone happy. Then is Robert that is an adorable person that's desperate of some attention of his entire family but his is a very good and sensitive man. Then is Ray who I like pretty much but if I would be Debra I would kill him in almost every episode, the fact that acts like a stupid sleeping bear brings me to the edge. Then I love Frank the old bad-a*s fella that tries to be the tough guy of the family but deep down he's silently loving and caring about his family, to me he looks like a child during puberty. Then there's Amy who's kind of a silly girl that always tries to make everyone happier with her silliness which I find sweet. And last is Marie who's like everyones Nemesis, I hate that woman but I admit that she's always there for everyone and she cares and gives always the best of her, even to Debra! Like Dave Crowe said "There's a massive pile of s**t with a little bit of gold in the middle", to me Everybody Loves Raymond is that little bit of gold!!! Everyone made me happy and my dream is to meet the entire "family" in person, that would be the greatest gift of all times. I thank the entire team (I've studied filmmaking and I know that there would be no series without them) and the entire cast for this wonderful creation that gave the sweetest taste that I ever got from a family so they became my role model and I'll create my own family one day based to these principals. Everybody Loves Raymond is a MUST SEE for anyone who loves the warmth of a family (with amazing plot, a unique scenario, magnificent cast and brilliant direction). Thank you all for everything...you're the best!!